You may not know this, but in the era before 1752, the first day of the year was not 1st January but 25th March. The beginning of spring was the beginning of the year.

ln ancient times (before the Mediaeval Era), the New Year started on 1st November and the Pagan festival to celebrate the New Year was called Samhain (pronounced Sow-een). lt is now more commonly called Halloween. This Celtic word meant ‘summer’s end’.

This was the time when summer ended and winter began and it was thought to have been a special and magical time. When the transfer took place it opened the door for spirits, ghosts and fairies to slip through into the world of humans.

This also happened on 1st May when the winter turned into summer. This festival was called Beltane and is now called May Day.

A lot of people nowadays have costume parties at Halloween when they like to dress up in disguises. Are they pretending to be ghouls and ghosts – or are they hiding from them?

lt was important to these ancient people to think about and honour their ancestors at this time. They believed on this night the veil between the world of nature and the world of spirit became so thin that it was possible for the ghosts and spirits to come into the world of humans – and then cause havoc if they wanted to.

This is where the idea of trick or treat came from and originated in Scotland and lreland where it is called guising.

Bill and Bob love Halloween because it is so spooky and they celebrate it by carving out pumpkin, swede or turnip heads. They also like apple bobbing. But most of all they like telling ghost stories.

Pumpkins are easier to hollow out than turnips, but were not available in Britain until recent decades.

These lantern heads were traditionally left at the front door to ward off any evil spirits that walked around that night. lt is a similar idea to the gargoyles that were later put high up on church walls.

Halloween is popular in all the English speaking countries but not so much in Europe.

Personally, l think it is always a nice thing for children to have something to enjoy!

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